Eyes Opened
by Cindersant
Summary: Imagine James T Kirk. All he wants is a vacation.  Then again, the Universe did hate him.  Before now it was only a suspicion.  Now he knew it for sure.


Unfortunately, I own nothing. It was all the work of people far more ingenious than I will ever be. Read and, hopefully, enjoy! Not beta read, so all of the stupid mistake contained within are mine alone. They are the only things I own besides a cantankerous laptop and a blackberry that I dropped in my kithchen sink last week.

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><p>Jim wasn't quite sure how he'd ended up in a cage. The last thing he could remember was being in the shuttle. They'd been on the way to Risa. Miracle of miracles, he'd managed to persuade Spoke to tag along. Not even he'd thought his powers of persuasion were up to a task like that. Sometimes he even managed to amaze himself.<p>

Bones had actually laughed a god honest laugh. Spock, he hadn't laughed exactly. It was more like a twitch of the mouth. But it was a relaxed twitch of the mouth. He'd thought Bones was going to bust a gut at that one. The man had laughed that hard. It was the kind of easy camaraderie he'd never experienced before joining Starfleet. Then as it naturally should in the life of James T Kirk, everything went up shit without a boat, forget the paddle.

He'd woken up a couple of hours before in a cage that smelled worse than a targ. Spock and Bones were missing. That was never a good sign in his book. Jim was especially worried for Spock. Not that he wasn't worried about Bones, he was. The man was the first real friend he'd ever had.

But Bones was _one_ of the hell of a lot of humans in the galaxy. They were in what he was assuming to be an Orion slave camp. Vulcans were a rarity now. If there was one thing a slave trader liked, it was something unique. Spock was certainly unique. He didn't want think of the implications that had for his First Officer.

Assuming that this was a slave camp, they didn't have long before they were sold. A voice in his head, which sounded suspiciously like Bones, told him,

"_Assumption is the mother of rip roarin' muck ups. Never assume with a patient. Never assume in life."_

At the moment he didn't have any other choice but to assume. There were Orions, people captive and categorised. Jim recognised a slave bargain section when he saw one.

Guards patrolled the walkways between the rows of cages. Taunts and leers were thrown as they went. He could deal with that. There were nice thick bars between him and them. It was safer in here than it was out there.

Two other occupants shared Jim's cage. One was a young human girl, fourteen at the most if he had to guess. She cowered in the middle of the cage floor, making sure to keep well away from the bars. Jim knew that that was probably a lesson of experience. As for the other lodger, he, she, it for all he knew, had yet to acknowledge his presence. All Jim could see was a ball of robes.

"I'm Jim Kirk."

The young girl's head jerked up in panic at the sound of his voice. She stared at him a moment. Jim didn't need to tax his mind overmuch to ascertain her state. The reaction she'd had at his voice spoke chapters. She was petrified, malnourished and god knows what else besides. Her scrawny arms squeezed her equally lean knees tighter, but not a sound in reply to his greeting passed her lips. He wasn't surprised.

No answer from the robes. Jim shrugged. He could cope with being ignored.

Jim prowled the cage floor in too few steps. His thoughts wandered to his friends. Where the hell were they? Were they in this godforsaken place too? He was torn between wanting them here to help him escape and wanting them safely ensconced on the Enterprise. He eased himself to the filthy floor, well away from the girl and whatever was in the corner.

Through the cage bars he could easily see other captives. Men, women, children of more species than he could name were crammed into cages like the battery hens of old. Some remnant of his childhood naivety wondered how things such as this could happen in this so called enlightened age. The more realistic part of him knew that no matter how advanced technology got, there would always be bastards out there. Replicators, transporters and warp engines would never change that.

Jim was pulled from his musings as a fat green Orion approached the cage. A heavily armed guard followed just a couple of paces behind him.

"_Wise,"_ he thought

Jim heard the buzz of a medical scanner the moment the man reached them. The fact that he could tell what it was, was a testament to just how often Bones had shoved one in his face.

"More humans," he said with disgust. "Vermin!" He walked around the perimeter of the cage with his lackey. A pleased expression crossed his wrinkled face.

Jim's felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. An expression like that never boded well. He knew that much from past experience.

"Romulan, female, and with child," he glanced at the pile of robes. "You will bring me your weight in latinum. How many beings would pay to have you under their control?"

The obese slaver waddled on with a cheery whistle to give the occupants of the next cage the same treatment.

"He has a point. Romulans aren't exactly liked."

Bones voice sounded in his head yet again, _"Kid what the hell are you tryin' to do?"_

Jim wasn't sure if he knew. With a pang of something he wasn't ready to acknowledge, he imagined just how high Spock's eyebrow would rise at his statement.

Green tinged hands snuck out from the swathes of material and pulled away the folds. She had black hair and a brow ridge more pronounced than a Vulcan's. Her face was a mass of angry green bruises. Her lip was oozing blood sluggishly.

Jim fought the urge to wince. She was pretty pissed if the look on her face was anything to go by.

"Do you think I'm not fully aware of that, Human?"

She got to her feet a bit unsteadily. The girl eyed her warily. Jim could understand why.

"Is there a purpose in your telling me of things I already know?

Jim stepped closer to her. "What's your name? You know mine."

"An honour, if you'll remember, I did not ask for." Her body tensed almost imperceptibly. "You may stay where you are."

"Lady, I'm not about to jump you?"

For a moment she seemed confused, but that was quickly covered up under a haughty mask that would do any Vulcan proud.

"Never mind. I just want to know the names of the ladies I'll be living with for a while." He summoned his most charming grin. The ladies in question traded a glance. Now they thought he was a whack job.

His inner sarcastic doctor made his presence known. _"Kid, you're in a stinks to high heavens pit with'em. Drop the charming shit and get to the point!"_

He took a deep breath. "We're stuck here. We have no one. I need help and so do you. Help me, please?"

"I don't need your help, Human." With that she wrapped herself up in her robe without another word.

His eyes moved to the human girl. "No one can help you Jim," she said croakily. She rested her chin on her knees. The look of pity in her eyes was sickening.

Jim steadfastly ignored it. "What's your name?"

She stared at him for a few long moments. So long in fact, that at first he didn't think she was going to answer him at all. Her reply was so softly spoken that he almost didn't catch it. "Louise," she replied.

"Thanks, Louise."

Those were the last words to be spoken for the entire night.


End file.
